Company profile

Steady growth in EPS of ACME Laboratories in last five years

The ACME Laboratories registered a steady growth in EPS (earnings per share) during the last five fiscal years riding on increased revenue earnings realised during the period.

The 'A' category company reported its EPS of Tk 6.81 for the year ended on June 30, 2019.

Previously, the company's EPS was Tk 5.70 for 2014-15, Tk 6.55 for 2015-16, Tk 6.61 for 2016-17 and Tk 6.74 for 2017-18.

The company reported its revenue of Tk 16.30 billion for 2018-19, Tk 14.81 billion for 2017-18, Tk 13.57 billion for 2016-17, Tk 12.64 billion for 2015-16 and Tk 11.49 billion for 2014-15.

Apart from steady growth in EPS and revenue earnings, the company's performance in cash flow generation was mixed in last four years.

The company's net operating cash flow per share was Tk 7.81 for 2018-19, Tk 7.46 in 2017-18, Tk 6.70 in 2016-17 and Tk 6.25 in 2015-16.

"… The ACME Laboratories maintained sustainable advancement in terms of EPS, profit earnings and cash flow generation. The achievement against operating targets was excellent with notable success in launching new products," Nagina Afzal Sinha, chairman of The AMCE Laboratories, said in her speech included in the annual report for 2018-19.

The amount of dividend disbursed by The ACME Laboratories remained static for last five fiscal years.

The company disbursed 35 per cent cash dividend for each year since 2016 to 2019.

The company's EPS, however, marginally declined for October-December, 2019 compared to same period of the previous year.

The EPS of The ACME Laboratories was Tk. 1.77 for October-December, 2019 as against Tk. 1.85 for October-December, 2018.

The Acme Laboratories, the country's oldest pharmaceutical company, raised Tk 4.09 billion from the public by using the book building method in early 2016.

The drug-maker floated 50 million ordinary shares of Tk 10 each with a premium of Tk 67 through an initial public offering for the general and affected investors, and non-resident Bangladeshis.

ACME was the second firm that used the book-building method after the securities regulator modified the pricing rules following the market crash in 2011.

Considering the industry outlook, in 2019 the company reset the plan of business expansion to be implemented with the IPO (initial public offering) proceeds.

The ACME Laboratories received its IPO fund on April 21, 2016 and was supposed to complete utilisation of the fund within next 15 months.

Later, the company extended the timeframe until June 2022 for utilising the fund allocated for civil construction and procurement of machinery and equipment.

The company officials said the utilisation of the fund was delayed due to change of its project modalities.

According to a top official, considering more profitability The ACME Laboratories adopted an Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (API) project scrapping the initial project.

"Usually, it takes time to complete an API project. We hope this project will enhance the company's profitability," the official said.

He said their project cost also increased in the course of time due to hike in prices of raw materials.

The ACME Laboratories, presently an 'A' category company, was listed on the stock exchanges in 2016.

The company's sponsor-directors hold 32.14 per cent shares, institutions hold 31.51 per cent, foreign shareholders 0.17 per cent and general shareholders 0.17 per cent as of February 29, 2020, according to information of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The company's share price closed at Tk 59.80 each on Wednesday with a marginal rise of 1.36 per cent or Tk 0.8 on the premier bourse DSE.